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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Microsoft Dynamics CRM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
ERP (3rd), Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (1st), CRM (2nd), Local Government CRM (1st), Marketing Management (2nd), Sales Force Automation (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics CRM aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 6.4%, down 6.7% compared to last year.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM, on the other hand, focuses on CRM Customer Engagement Centers, holds 25.8% mindshare, down 26.3% since last year.
ERP
CRM Customer Engagement Centers
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user514128 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 15, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

StefaanVandesompele - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides end-to-end accounting and finance module at reasonable pricing
365 Business Central integrates with Office 365 to streamline the invoice approval process. This allows businesses to manage and approve invoices efficiently within a unified system. Our organization plans to transition to the Dynamics 365 environment, where various functions will be centralized. We will consolidate everything into one system instead of maintaining multiple databases for each country with local data. Dynamics 365 is fully integrated, which should address many of our challenges when we migrate to this new environment. We look forward to seeing how it performs in practice. The project is progressing well overall, though integrating it with other tools and ensuring Dynamics 365 operates smoothly can be challenging. Dynamics 365 is user-friendly and effective. However, a deeper understanding of its technical capabilities and architecture might be necessary to optimize its use fully. The software landscape is evolving, and achieving the best reporting and functionality with just a click can be complex. A clear vision of what you want to achieve with Dynamics 365 is essential. Proper preparation and configuration are crucial to achieving the desired outcomes. This principle applies not only to Dynamics 365 but to all software packages. Understanding the system's flexibility and adaptability based on your specific business needs is key to its successful implementation. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Rishabh Chhajer - PeerSpot reviewer
Intuitive APIs, customizable design, but dashboards could improve
The most advantageous aspect of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is its periodic updates. Every quarter, Microsoft releases upgrades that address bugs and vulnerabilities. As a company governed by the Reserve Bank of India and SAP security regulations for our stock operations, we conduct periodic reviews of our applications, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Whenever we submit an audit report and identify bugs, we reach out to the Microsoft team for assistance. They assure us that the issues will be fixed in the next quarterly release. As a result, we have not experienced any outstanding bugs that have not been recorded or addressed.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We are getting more features after switching to Microsoft 365."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The value for money is very high as it fits the business well."
"It is a stable solution."
"This is readily available and affordable, as well as user-friendly and simple to use in my opinion."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the Teams application. I use Teams to share documents amongst my team members, have meetings, and talk to them."
"The tool covers most of the business requirements that most companies have, especially financial institutions."
"The solution is easy to use, flexible, and customizable."
"The solution is easy to use and stable. It offers a 360-degree view of your customers. It allows you to track interactions, giving you full visibility into customer habits and behavior"
"Our clients appreciate that the solution can be used to monitor everything their customer interacts with in their business."
"The most useful feature that this solution provides is the ability to make dashboards for the business easily as our company is managed using KPIs and metrics."
"The deployment of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is easy because it's a software as a service, which eliminates the need to deploy anything in our data center."
"When you have a vanilla, straightforward version, it is easy to use."
"It is good for sales and service maintenance. It has various integration tools."
"I like the fact that I can keep track of everything I do in relation to my own job."
"It ensures that there's continuity, and you don't have to start asking the customer about what happened. From CRM, you can easily see all the interactions and events in the record and take it from there."
 

Cons

"I work in Pakistan, and many people want desktop solutions. They don't want to work on the cloud. They want a strictly on-premises solution."
"The solution can improve by having better integration with Microsoft PowerBI and reporting."
"The tool needs to work on reporting issues and user interface."
"One aspect that could be improved in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the visibility and accessibility of communication-related features, such as email integration."
"The formulas in Power BI could be simpler. Sometimes, it's difficult to figure them out, but I am part of a lot of communities that work with us, so we help each other."
"I am hoping there is more integration with other platforms, more features, and customization in the next release."
"The Power BI integration could be more seamless."
"There are some aspects of the solution that is complex."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM can improve by having integration with Slack. Additionally, the solution is incomplete, and we must use other solutions to fulfill our needs."
"The solution could improve by having better integration documentation."
"The approvals component of Dynamics is complex. It isn't very easy to generate approvals between different departments."
"The UI/UX needs improvement as it is not intuitive from day one."
"The integration capability with other systems could be improved, particularly the Lead Generation system."
"I would suggest enhancements in customization and better integration for testing codes to improve the functionality of Dynamics CRM."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM could improve the built-in reports. The ones that are included are pretty generic unless you subscribe to Microsoft BI, which is an extra fee. They should offer the reports without having to purchase a separate subscription for Microsoft BI. However, the reports in Microsoft BI are fantastic."
"The solution could have better dashboards and the Microsoft operating system could be more intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool’s licensing is yearly. The solution is cheaper compared to other ERP products from Oracle or SAP."
"I give the solution a seven out of ten for pricing."
"We have an agreement with Microsoft and pricing is okay for us."
"There are two types of licenses. One is the essential license in which everything is covered, and the next is the premium. If your company is a manufacturing or service management company, then you can go for the premium license because those two modules are the premium ones. You can manage your manufacturing activities and your service activities."
"The solution's license is costly compared to other CRM tools."
"In my opinion, the fees are reasonable."
"I think the pricing is the best; it's cost effective for sure."
"I have some subscription-based customer and a few customers who have perpetual licenses that hosted the application on the cloud."
"On a scale from one to ten with one being expensive and ten being of great value, I would rate Microsoft Dynamics CRM at six on pricing."
"Microsoft often encourages customers to commit to multi-year enterprise-level agreements, such as three or five-year deals with a minimum commitment of, for example, $200,000 dollars. However, in order to acquire more customers, I believe Microsoft should offer this same rate for one-year commitments for customers who want to experience it."
"There is a license required to use Microsoft Dynamics CRM."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is very affordable if you use the yearly subscription."
"The price of the solution is good but could be cheaper."
"My organization pays for the license, and I do not know how much it costs."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM's price is too high."
"The cost varies on multiple factors including customization and the number of users."
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Answers from the Community

it_user514128 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 16, 2017
Mar 16, 2017
Dynamic CRM is “workflow” and base on email integration. CRP in Default Micrososoft Dynamic Nav only simple CRP Please see the comment below in web Key factor is where data is held The key factor in determining whether to deploy Dynamics NAV or Dynamics CRM to meet your needs will depend on where the data is held that your CRM processes need to access. If your marketing is based o...
2 out of 10 answers
it_user392145 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 14, 2017
Looking into Dynamics CRM is advisable. CRM as part of Dynamics NAV is limited, can be fine for B2B companies having little CRM requirements. For B2C Dynamics NAV CRM will often be to limited. Integration with social media is not available in CRM of Dynamics NAV. In CRM standard NAV you will find: segmentation, campagnes, tasks, interactions / contact moments, opportunities. But limited functionallity to create workflows within your sales proces (like follow up).
Mar 14, 2017
Hi,  there are certainly limitations with NAV CRM in comparison to Dynamics CRM. To understand whether your specific business requirements needs the additional features or not would require more information. In essence Dynamics CRM is about relationship management and has superb functionality for sales, marketing and customer service. NAV CRM is more an internal focussed operational tool. From the information below, I would be more concerned that you are bespoking your system to the extent indicated. This is not a recommended solution.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The platform offers a robust and comprehensive cycle for supply chain and inventory management, with features like minimum and maximum settings, dynamic monitoring of inventory levels, and integrat...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The pricing for Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable. The value for money is very high.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
There is a need for improvement in consolidation and multi-country master data management.
What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
The most valuable features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM are all the filters and possible reports.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
Costing might be a reason for concern. It could be an issue for the organization, or maybe not. It's uncertain.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
I use the solution to manage the lead sales pipeline and enable the marketing department to maintain customer data.
 

Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
Dynamics CRM, MS Dynamics CRM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
Metro Bank, Nissan, Pandora, Delta, Haynes International, City of London, Trek and many more market leaders.
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